Fford service



w. F. SERVIQE.

TIMER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.15, 1911. RENEWED FEB. 19,1920.

1,391,419 atenmdse t. 20,1921.

IVNVENTOR A'TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM moan sm wrcn or :POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, sssrenon, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, ro CHARLES HARDY; AND CHARLES H. roman, BOTH or new TIMER.

- Spe cifleationof Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 20, 1921.v 2

Application filed mam; 15, 917 sem 1a. 207,37. Renewed February 19,1920. set-m1 No. 359,849.

To all'w hbm' z't may concern:

resident'of Po ughkeepsie', in thecounty of Dutchess and State of NewYork,.have invented certain new and, useful Improvements in Timers, ofwhich the following is a specification. e

The invention relates to timers or devices adapted for-"use with theignition system of internal combustion engines; and ithas foritsobjectto provide a simplified and inexpensive timer whichjshall becomposed'of few and simple parts, be positive and eifective in itsaction: and properly safe-guarded against short-cir'cuiting. A furtherobject of the invention consists in the novel manner ofsupplying-lubricant to the'movable V the contact shoes are properlypositioned parts of the timer.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention- Figure lis a vertical section through the f timer; and Fig.2 is an underneathview of. the timer and the rotor shaft, with a portion 1 of saidtimershown in section.. Similar characters of reference views. a I V; v

Referring to the'drawings, 10 designates the housing of the timer, thesame, being the securing fram elcfor the timer, as iswell understood.The housing 10 is vprovided with equidistantly spaced openings 15circularliyl tiOn t to the housing 10 by means of thethrcaded extensions17 of contact shoes 18,1which'extensions pass through the openings 15pro-j vided in the housing. "Theseth'readed ex 'f tensionsserve,also,1to securefthe shoes 18 to the ring 16, the same beingcounter-sunk in said ring and the ring itself held to the saidhousing'through a suitable insulating washer 19, located outside of thehousing, and lock nuts; 20 beyond same andworking over the threadedportion. This'threaded portion of the contact shoes extends beyond the l-nu s Q ahQI Yi Q s c os I designate" c )rresponding' parts throughoutthe several disposedin the cylindrical wall por ereof, which saidcylindrical portion is designed tojreceive an annulus or ringshapedmember 16 of suitable insulating material. The'sa'id annularmen'iberiishheld l or terminal through whichcontact may be Be it knownthat I, WILLIAM From) Smv. 10E, a citizen of the United States, and amade the various cylinders (not shown) of the internalcombustion engine,as is well understood, a further nut 21 being provided I between suchthreaded extension and the housing wall, the openings 15; therein aremade of sufficient diameter to provide the necessary gap between thehousing walland the threaded extension, which latter is positivelylocated .with reference to said openings, by providing enlargements 22on the said housingabout the opening 15 through which said extensionspass, and countersinking the insulating washers 19 therein. Inthismanner, the threaded extensions of and there can beno danger ofshort-circuiting, as frequently occurs where these precautions are notconsidered.

The shoes 18 are fitted immovably relative to the ring 16 and the radialopenings or apertures throu h the ring 16"for accommodating the ro s orextension parts 17 also preferably fit tightly to said extensions sothat the extensions are allowed no appreciable movement relative to thering. The

effect of tl'fezwasher 19 and the nuts 20 in holding the extensionscentered in the openings 15, therefore, serves also to 'efi'ectuallyprevent inovementof the ringrelative to theh'ousing '10 in "alldirections and thus prevents moyementof the shoes 18 out of correcto'sition. 4

{Axial y disposed within the housing 10 is asha'ft 25 driven from theinternal combustion engine (not shown), and there is mounted, to rotatewith said shaft the rotor 26 carrying a suitable contact memberhereinafter more specifically set forth. The in-' vention comprehends asliding contact between the member carried by said rotor and the contactshoeshereinbefore described and carried by the" insulating ring 16,rather a rolling contact as is the general prac-. tice. To this end,fthe'rotor is provided with a tubu'lar extension 27 forming a guide for acylindrical plunger'28 whose outer end is hardened and curved to suitthe inner: surface of the annular member. 16; Plunger 28 is tubular inform and is provided with an internal'shoulder 29 against which abutsone end ofa spring 30 whose other end is in contact with the rotor 26.The plunger 28 is thus urged outwardly by said spring to provide thenecessary contact pressure to insure suitable electrical connection,exerting a uniform tension on the ring, and also to prevent foreignmaterial from lodging between the inner surface of said ring and thesaid contact member, thereby destroying or marring the surface of saidring.

To further insure a smooth action between the sliding surfaces, thetubular plunger member 28 contains an axially disposed wick or othersuitable material 31 through which is fed, by capillary attraction andcentrifugal action, a suitable lubricant initially placed in the bottomof said member 27 to lubricate the plunger and plunger end. A

sufficient quantity of this lubricant can be placed therein at the timeof manufacture of the timer to last for its natural life.

It is desirable, furthermore, to feed lubricant also to the innersurface of the ring 16 in addition to the lubricant fed through therotor member; and, to this end, a small oil connection in the nature ofa hollow, remov able cap 35 is brought out through the housing 10 andcommunicates with a wick 36 which is placed in a recess 37 of the ring16, said recess having a short, small-diameter extension 38communicating with the interior of the said housing at the wall of thesaid ring.

By the system of oiling hereinbefore described, no more oil can reachthe contact surfaces than is absolutely needed to properly lubricate theinsulation ring, obviating flooding of the timer, with consequentshortcircuiting of same. Furthermore, small openings 39 may be made inthe housing wall on both sides of the ring 16 to insure drainage of anypossible accumulation.

The wick material 31 is preferably disposed within the spring 30 so thatit is thereby always held substantially centrally of the body oflubricant within the member 27. The opening in the outer end of theplunger 28, through which the material 31 extends is relatively small ascompared with the surface extent of the end of the plunger. Considerablesurface extent of the end of the plunger is present particularly atopposite sides of the opening, as viewed in Fig. 1. All of the lubricantdelivered through the opening in the plunger, therefore, is so deliveredthat it must directly lubricate a considerable portion of the endsurface of the plunger before it can possibly leave the rubbingsurfaces. None of the lubricant from the plunger can possibly bedischarged without having first'performed its appointed function oflubricating the rubbing surfaces. The lubricant within the plunger ispreferably a non-fluid lubricant. When the device is operating a certainamount of heat is generated and the action of this upon the lubricantwithin the plunger enables the wick material to absorb a quantitysufiicient to properly lubricate the rubbing surfaces.

The lubricant supplied to the wick. 36 within the ring 16, is preferablya fluid lubricant. The wick is so disposed as to provide a heavy wadwithin the recess 37 and the lubricant is applied from time to timedirectly to this wad either through the cap 35 Or by removal of saidcap. The wad being saturated with oil, a suitable quantity of the oil iscarried by capillary attraction through the wick extension which extendsthrough the small opening 38 to the rubbing surface of the ring.

The liquid lubricant thus applied to the rubbing surface of the ring hasa desirable action upon the non-fluid lubricant present at the end ofthe plunger in that the two lubricants combine to a greater or lessextent so as to produce a desirable quality of lubricant for the rubbingsurfaces. The heavy non-fluid lubricant placed in the plunger when thedevice is manufactured, combines with the lighter lubricant which isreadily and easily supplied to the rubbing surfaces through the wick 36to provide an appropriate quality of lubricant for the rubbing surfaces.

It is to be noted that in order that lubricant may be fed to the wickwithin the recess 37, said recess must be held in register with the cap,or opening 35. Since this recess is formed within the ring 16 which isheld against movement relative to the housing by the retaining means ofthe extensions 17 of the contact plates 18, it follows that theseextensions and their retaining means serve to hold the recess 37 incorrect register with the opening or cap 35.

Due to the sliding contact, rather than a rolling contact as is thegeneral practice, all dirt or grit accumulating on the insulation ringwill be wiped off by the contact plunger andno foreign material will beforced into the insulation to scratch and wear same, as well as to causejumping of the contact, resulting in chatter and misfire. A rollercontact, moreover, affords but a very small line of contact; whereas,with the sliding plunger herein disclosed, ample contact surface isafforded.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, itis intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shownin the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense.

I claim: I

1. A timer comprising a housing, a ring of insulating material carriedthereby, a plurality of contacts carried by said ring, a rotor operablefor successively engaging said contacts, the rotor comprising a tubularpart and a plunger part slidable within the tubular part, a coil springurging the plunger part outwardly into surface engagement with said ringand contacts, said tubular part being adapted to contain a lubricant,and a wick arranged within said coil spring and extending through saidplunger part to the outer surface thereof adapted to feed lubricant fromsaid tubular part to the rubbing surface of said ring and plunger.

2. A timer comprising a housing, a ring of insulating material carriedthereby, a plurality of contacts carried by said ring, a' rotor operablefor successively engaging said contacts, the rotor comprising a tubularpart and a plunger part slidable within the tubular part, means forurging the plunger part outwardly so that its outer surface will rubover the inner surface of said ring and contacts as the rotor rotates,and a wick extending from within said tubular part through an opening insaid plunger part adapted to feed lubricant from said tubular part tothe outer surface of the plunger part Within the margins of said outersurface.

3. A timer comprising a housing, a ring of insulating material carriedthereby, a plurality of contacts carried by said ring, a rotor operablefor successively engaging said contacts, the rotor including a part forrubbing over the inner surface of said ring and contacts, said ringhaving a recess formed in the outer surface thereof communicating withan opening formed through the wall of the housing, said ring also havinga relatively small opening communicating between its inner surface andsaid recess, and a wick disposed within said recess in a position toreceive lubricant through said opening in the wall of the housing, saidwick having a portion extending along said reduced opening in the ringto adjacent the inner surface of the ring for feeding lubricant to saidrotor and the inner surface of the ring.

4. In a timer comprising a housing, a ring of insulating materialcarried thereby, a plurality of contacts carried by said ring, and arotor operable for successively engaging said contacts, the combinationtherewith of two separate means for supplying lubricant to the rubbingsurfaces of said ring and rotor, one of said supply means beingcomprised in said rotor and the second supply means being comprised insaid ring.

5. In a timer comprising a housing of conducting material, a separatelyformed ring of insulating material arranged within said housing, aplurality of contacts carried by said ring, a rotor operable forsuccessively making electrical connection with said contacts, aplurality of rods connected with said contacts and being fixed rigidlywith said ring projecting radially therefrom at spaced pointscircumferentially of said ring, said housing having an annular wall partwithin which said ring is fitted, said wall part having openingstherethrough one for each of said rods, and said openings being ofgreater diameter than said rods so as to leave an insulating air spacebetween each rod and the walls of the openings, the combinationtherewith of insulating means, means interengaging between said rods andsaid housing serving to hold each rod substantially centered in itsrespective opening so as to maintain said air spaces and at the sametime to retain said ring against movement relative to said housing.

Signed at Poughkeepsie in the county of Dutchess and State of New Yorkthis 11th day of December, A. D. 1917.

WILLIAM FFORD SERVICE.

Witnesses:

F. HOWELL GREENE, H. E. HoBsoN,

